Some Thoughts

Yesterday I did a small presentation to a group of doctors, who are specializing in treating people with substance addictions.

It was a nice and satisfying event, for the range of topics covered already was wide, and since there was good interaction between the doctor who was the chief speaker, me (invited), and our audience.

And so it happened that we talked about addiction, depression, OCD, autism, ADHD, and the treatment options available. The host had included lots of facts from the history of medicine in his talk, nicely illustrated with photos, figures, drawings, front pages of very old books. Actually, some of these caused a jolly good laugh in all of us – which suggests that that we regard as ‘contemporary’, ‘modern’, ‘state of the art’, and even ‘unsurpassable’ today, may strike a comparable audience 2128 A.D. as extremely outmoded and fairly ridiculous too (if we manage to save our precious climate, that is).

This small introduction my way of announcing the continuation of this blog. I went through major life changes during all the times when I did not write much, and there were long stretches when I did not write at all too.

I hope the new and stable life conditions I am in now will allow for much more information on OCD. I must admit that, being trained as a scientist, I revised my views on many aspects of mental illness in years gone by. There were no revolutions, nor did I suddenly see the light when changing my point of view on the topics. I hope to make these things clear – and moreover I hope that my readers may find benefits in my writings.

One last point of interest: I lowered my use of the antidepressant paroxetine (an SSRI) three months ago, to a level that usually is the minimum prescription in treating depression: 20 mg/day. I did not experience symptoms of withdrawal, nor did I get a higher urge to perform OCD-related acts: the rituals of checking locks, doors, faucets, windows, the stove, and so on and so forth.

This is as puzzling as it is positive, I think. I will ponder it, and tell you about my thoughts on this.